An Act Of Uncertainty In A Time Of Pain
by Kumori sensei
Summary: Sasuke is put through traumatic event in his life. Naruto arrives in the mist of it horrified at what he sees. He'd been planning something only a few days previous. Now doesn't think he should ask, but then Sasuke notices it and asks what it is. NaruSasu. I own nothing.


"Haha, I was wondering when you planned to pop the question," Kiba laughed, "So you're finally gonna do it, eh?"

"Yeah I plan to, I'm just looking for the right moment." Naruto said.

"You sound nervous buddy, you okay?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah of course, just a little nerve racking," Naruto said, "I'll survive though."

"Don't worry, dude, you have nothing to worry about," Kiba said, "He's in love with you."

"Yeah I know Kiba." Naruto said, though the truth in the matter was that they had never said 'I love you' to each other yet, but he knew there really wasn't much point in trying to explain it all to Kiba. He was anxious and then there was the fact that Sasuke just might not be ready. Man, he sure hoped he was.

"Tell me how it goes after you ask him." Kiba grinned patting him on the back.

"Kiba, listen to me, you can't tell anyone and don't bring it up," Naruto said, "I don't know when I'm going to do it, it has to be the right moment."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I won't speak a word of it," Kiba said, "And speaking of Sasuke, here he comes."

"Huh," Naruto said blinking a few times in confusion before looking behind him and sure enough Sasuke was approaching. Naruto grinned at him and waved. Sasuke smiled at him and waved back as he continued to walk over. Once he was close enough Naruto reached out and pulled him into a hug. Sasuke sighed but returned the hug nevertheless, resting his head on Naruto's shoulder in the process.

"So, looking forward to graduating from college?" Naruto asked.

"Che, it's not that big of a deal." Sasuke said.

"Oh, that's right," Naruto said, "You're mister top of the class, so of course you don't care."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Kiba chuckled lightly. Kiba said that even though Sasuke wasn't looking forward to it, he sure as hell was. Naruto chuckled at that and said he had been too when he was graduating.

"Let's get outta here, I don't want to hang out at the school." Kiba said.

"Fine by me, I don't want to stick around long enough for Tsunade to bite my head off!" Naruto laughed.

Kiba laughed along with him and Sasuke snorted but smiled. They all started to walk off to where they were parked. Sasuke didn't have a car so Naruto always dropped him off and then picked him up. He owned a motorcycle, so he always found Kiba's car and parked it neatly beside two cars, in his own invisible parking spot.

Sasuke had never been too fond of how Naruto always did that, but he had never managed to convince the blonde to stop. He said it wasn't that big of a deal, he was only coming to get him and then leaving. Sasuke had given up after three months of constantly trying to get him to stop. He was relieved he didn't do it anywhere else though.

"I've got to help my sis out at the vet, so I'll see ya guys tomorrow." Kiba said as they got to their vehicles. Naruto nodded and waved saying bye. Sasuke did the same minus the bye part. Kiba then got into his car and drove off leaving Naruto and Sasuke just standing there. Naruto then went over to his motorcycle and grabbed both his and Sasuke's helmets, and tossed Sasuke's to him before he put his own on. Sasuke caught his with ease and quickly put it on.

Sasuke asked where they were going. Naruto shrugged and said he was about to ask him where he wanted to go. He said he didn't care and got on the motorcycle after Naruto and wrapped his arms around his waist as Naruto reversed out of the parking spot and drove out of the school grounds and took a left out of habit. He decided that he might as well just head back home, Sasuke wasn't really all that big on going out anyway.

Once they were there they went inside and Naruto turned, about to ask Sasuke a question, but he was stopped by Sasuke grabbing Naruto's shirt and pulling him in, pressing his lips firmly against Naruto's. Naruto blinked a few times in surprise before he closed his eyes and kissed back, quickly taking dominance over the kiss. Sasuke's eyes were already shut, his arms slipping up around Naruto's neck.

Naruto was gently pushing him back until he hit the door. He stepped forward until their bodies were flush against one another. Sasuke groaned into the kiss. One hand came up and into Sasuke's hair, while the other rested on Sasuke's hip. As they drew apart to breathe, Naruto leaned down past Sasuke's lips to the nape of his neck and started sucking. Sasuke gasped closing his eyes and subconsciously tilted his head so that he was giving Naruto more access to his neck.

He then started to nibble and lick at the spot on top of sucking. This only made Sasuke gasp and moan more. His hands fisted in Naruto's hair. Naruto started to slowly make his way up Sasuke's neck while he did so. Naruto smirked when he got to Sasuke's ear, remembering how sensitive he was right behind there. He leaned forward and licked behind his ear, making Sasuke shiver in anticipation. He didn't do anything but breathe for a few seconds, until Sasuke pulled his head forward and made a whimpering noise. Naruto grinned and started to nibble and suck on the spot. That rewarded him with Sasuke gasping and moaning even louder than before.

While he was doing that he drew his body away from Sasuke's making him whimper from the loss of warmth and moan from the sensations Naruto's mouth was providing at the same time. Naruto's hand then snaked up Sasuke's shirt and trailed up until he reached his chest and he found a nipple to tease. Sasuke arched into the touch, his moans suddenly being muffled by Naruto capturing Sasuke's lips in a kiss. This one more demanding than the last one.

Naruto flicked his tongue out and slipped it into Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke groaned as Naruto ravaged his mouth. His tongue then started to "play" with Sasuke's. All the while Sasuke was moaning and groaning. Sasuke's legs started to buckle as he was suddenly having trouble standing. Naruto slipped an arm around him to help him stand and led him over to the couch, which he pushed him down on.

Sasuke landed in a sitting position. He was breathing heavily and looked up at Naruto, an uncertainty in his eyes. Naruto's eyes softened and he smiled down at Sasuke as he leaned forward onto the couch and pressed his forehead against Sasuke's. The uncertainty in his eyes had disappeared and was now calm and relaxed as he took comfort in Naruto's reassuring actions.

He closed his eyes and leaned in, closing the distance between his and Naruto's lips. Naruto's eyes also closed as he responded to the kiss and leaned in more, making it deeper. He pushed at Sasuke's chest making Sasuke lay down on the couch, Naruto hovering over him. He leaned down and once again captured Sasuke's lips with his own, his tongue darting out to ask entrance. Sasuke was quick to oblige and Naruto's tongue entered Sasuke's mouth once again.

He pulled away when he needed to breathe air into his lungs again. Naruto leaned forward and nuzzled Sasuke's neck. Sasuke blinked a few times, Naruto didn't do that very often. It never happened when they were making out before. He couldn't help but wonder what was on Naruto's mind if he was doing that. Before he could ask though, Naruto pulled away a bit and ended up hovering by one of Sasuke's ears, his heart pounding with how nervous he was as he whispered, "I love you."

Sasuke caught his breath. He laid there in shock for over a minute and his lack of response was starting to worry Naruto. Then Sasuke got a hold of himself... somewhat and he tackled Naruto, so that now he was lying on top of him and had his face buried in the crook of Naruto's neck as tears of happiness slid down his face as he mumbled an, "I love you too," in response. Naruto grinned as he wrapped his arms around Sasuke.

Naruto was waiting outside the school like usual for Kiba and Sasuke. He yawned and stretched as he waited for them to show up. Kiba was always the first to come out, always wanting to get out of there as quick as possible, while Sasuke on the other hand took his time getting everything together and making his way over to where they were waiting for him.

It was like any other day. Kiba was out first and they talked away while they waited for Sasuke. Ten minutes went by and Sasuke still wasn't out. That was strange because even though he took his time it never took him ten minutes. Naruto instantly started to worry. Kiba tried to reassure him by telling him that it was probably a teacher talking to him, that he was mister genius remember.

"I dunno Kiba," Naruto said, "When that happens he's usually held back a good half hour to an hour, so he'll always text me to give me the heads up, but I haven't gotten any texts from him."

"If you're that concerned just go in and look for him." Kiba said.

"Alright, let's go Kiba." Naruto said heading for the double doors at the entrance of the school.

"Why do I have go with you into that hell hole?" Kiba asked, but followed nonetheless.

"'Cause I need you to keep Tsunade and 'em off my back," Naruto said.

"...So basically, I'm your wingman." Kiba said.

"Yup," Naruto said.

Kiba sighed, but he was still following Naruto to the school. The first place they checked was his locker, but he wasn't there. Then they started walking down hall after hall and looking into the classrooms to see if he was in there with any of the teachers, but they weren't finding him.

"I think we need to split up," Kiba said, "This place is big and Sasuke could be anywhere."

"Agreed," Naruto said, "I'll take the main floor, you can take the third."

"Right, good luck!" Kiba called as he ran off for the stairs that led to the third floor. Naruto gave him a quick wave over his shoulder as he ran off for the stairs to the main floor while calling "good luck" to Kiba as he ran.

Naruto ran and went to make a turn but noticed that Tsunade was there and stopped dead in his tracks and looked around frantically for an alternative root. Poor Naruto had no alternative, having run down a one way hall that had no classrooms down it. He sighed, he would have to run past Tsunade with one of his greetings thrown over his shoulder at her and hope he made it out of there alive.

He took a deep breath and turned the corner sprinting down the path. "What hell...!" Tsunade said in surprise when she suddenly saw Naruto running down the hall. He waved at her with a grin on his face and said, "Hey grandma Tsunade, good to see ya again, later!" He zoomed by her and started running down the halls as quick as possible and even though he was already long gone he didn't miss Tsunade scream, "Nar-u-to," at the top of her lungs.

When he finally stopped running and started to catch his breath it was beside a washroom. He immediately noticed that there were noises on the other side of the door. He listened carefully and made out Sasuke's voice being one of them and from what he heard it seemed Sasuke was the one being attacked and he wasn't winning. Naruto clenched his teeth and tried opening the door but it was locked.

Pissed off and adrenaline rushing through his veins, he slammed the full force of his body against the door to try and smash it open. That plan failed miserably. Having been too concentrated on breaking down the door, he missed the familiar sound of Tsunade's high heels clicking and clacking on the floor as she approached Naruto.

There was an "a-hem" noise that came right next to Naruto. He blinked and looked over at her. She tried to ask him what he was doing but was cut off by Naruto yelling, "Look, I don't know what's going on in there, but it ain't good and the doors locked, you gotta do something!" Tsunade looked surprised and tried turning the door confirming that what Naruto said was true.

"Hang on, I have to run back and get the key!" Tsunade said.

"Isn't there some way we can break it down?" Naruto yelled.

"Not that I know of, but if you think of something you have my permission to go ahead and do it." Tsunade said before she ran off.

Naruto started looking around him frantically, looking for something to break down the door with. He spotted a fire extinguisher and ran over and broke it out of its encasement and then ran back over to the door and slammed it against the door with all his might again and again. He had to stop to catch his breath and as he looked at the door he noticed he'd actually gotten somewhere. The door was dented and had cracks in it, big and small ones. He took a deep breath and started hacking away at the door again.

There was commotion going on, on the other side of the door. They obviously weren't sure what was going on. They did know that Tsunade was going to retrieve a key and someone else was vigorously trying to break down the door. All Naruto was concerned about was that Sasuke was on the other side screaming, begging for them to stop and they weren't, they were hurting him and he swore once he got through this door, if they didn't run off he was going to beat them to an inch of their life.

As it turned out he managed to break a hole into the door before Tsunade showed up with the key, so he stuck his hand through the door and reached for the lock and unlocked the door and then opened it and ran inside. What he saw enraged him so much he could really kill anyone in here. Here, right in front of him, Sasuke was being raped.

Naruto surged forward knocking anyone who stood in his way of getting to Sasuke to the floor as he yelled at the guy on him to get off of him. Once he got to him he grabbed the back of his shirt and threw the guy off him, sending him to the other side of the room and into a wall. Naruto restrained himself from going over to them and beating them up, knowing he needed to stay with Sasuke right now. That was what was most important. Sasuke needed Naruto right now, so Naruto would let them run off.

All of them scrambled to their feet and ran out of there as quick as possible. Naruto stood there for a few seconds, until they were all gone and then turned around and dropped down to his knees next to Sasuke. Tears were now streaming down his face as he looked at Naruto with need filled in those eyes of his. Naruto's eyes were filled with sadness as he reached out and pulled Sasuke into his arms. Sasuke buried his face into Naruto's chest as he clutched onto the back of his shirt.

Naruto held him in a strong, comforting, loving, protective embrace, rocking Sasuke back and forth on his lap in the process. He murmured comforting and reassuring things into Sasuke's ear too. Tsunade came in to see this and started to curse under her breath as she retrieved her cell phone from her pocket and stepped out into the hall while she called the police.

Eventually Sasuke managed to calm down, but he still hadn't moved an inch from the safety of Naruto's arms. Naruto had his nose buried in Sasuke's hair still murmuring in his ear while he rubbed Sasuke's back lovingly. Kiba came barging through the door then and asked if Sasuke was okay. Naruto glanced up at him for a second before he looked back down at Sasuke, he didn't say anything to Kiba, he just kept murmuring in Sasuke's ear.

Kiba was concerned but he knew he should just wait outside, he could talk to Naruto later about how Sasuke was doing. To be honest he should probably be asking how Naruto's holding up too since this was probably tearing him apart. The point was though that Sasuke needed Naruto right now so he would just have to wait. He went outside and waited there with Tsunade.

The police soon showed up and after some minutes of conversing it was agreed that Naruto would be allowed to stay with Sasuke. He picked Sasuke put and carried him out of the school and into the ambulance and while he was supposed to be laying on the stretcher he was instead sitting on Naruto lap with Naruto holding him since he had refused to be anywhere else.

They got to the hospital and Naruto managed to convince Sasuke to get his examination. When it was done Naruto came in with the police officers following and pulled him close and wrapped his arms around him. Sasuke sighed and relaxed as he laid his head on Naruto's shoulder, his arms slipping around his waist.

The police said they needed to ask Sasuke some questions and Sasuke merely nodded his head. Naruto had gone back to rubbing his back. As they asked him questions Naruto did what he could to try and make it easier for Sasuke. When the police had finished with their questions they left and Sasuke was allowed to leave. Naruto called Kiba and asked him to come and get them since Naruto didn't have his motorcycle here and he didn't really think it would be a great idea for Sasuke to be on the back of one of those right now anyway.

They went outside of the hospital and found a bench and Naruto sat on it with Sasuke sitting down on his lap. He had one arm wrapped around his waist and a hand combing through his hair. Sasuke had his head resting against Naruto's chest. They stayed like that until Kiba showed up ten or fifteen minutes later.

"Hey guys, you doing okay?" Kiba asked concern clearly in his voice.

"I think so." Naruto said as he opened the back door and got in after Sasuke. Naruto sat in his seat and Sasuke laid down on the other ones with his head resting on Naruto's lap. He combed his fingers through Sasuke's hair soothingly. Kiba drove them to Naruto's house and he thanked him for bringing them there. Then Naruto asked Kiba to pick Sasuke up whenever he felt ready to go back to school. Kiba said he would and that he would get Naruto's motorcycle for him too. Naruto nodded to him and said thanks and then waved while he led Sasuke to the house.

Naruto leaned forward and picked Sasuke up bridal style and carried him up the stairs and into Naruto's room. He gently placed Sasuke on the bed and got in beside him. Sasuke immediately curled up at his side and closed his eyes to get some much needed sleep. Naruto had an arm wrapped around him holding him close, giving him a sense of safety. Sasuke quickly found himself falling into a blissful sleep.

He awoke a couple of hours later and noticed that it was completely silent which was strange since Naruto usually watched TV when Sasuke was sleeping next to him and he had nothing to do. He knew it couldn't be that Naruto was asleep because he was rubbing his back. As he glanced up at Naruto to see what he was doing he saw that he was just staring at the ceiling.

"Why are you staring at the ceiling, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"Hm, oh I didn't want to chance waking you up, so I ended up just staring at the ceiling." Naruto said looking over at him when he heard him talking.

"Then stop, it's too strange to see you staring into space." Sasuke said.

Naruto gave him a small smile knowing that this was Sasuke's weird way of saying thank you. He brought his hand up and ruffled his hair a bit aware that it would help Sasuke deal with what happened if he kept to what he would do if it hadn't happened at all, as if it had been like any other day.

"Alright, if it makes ya feel any better we can watch TV," Naruto said, "You got to choose though now that you're awake."

Sasuke just nodded and Naruto handed him the remote. He wanted Sasuke to be distracted from what had happened for a while. He was pretty sure Sasuke needed the distraction right now anyway. Naruto smiled when Sasuke picked his favourite show. Naruto had never liked it very much, but he always lied to Sasuke and said he loved it because he knew it was his favourite. He could remember all the times when Sasuke would ask if he was going to watch it with him and he always wanted to groan and say "no", but he would always smile and say, "hell ya," instead. He couldn't bring himself to care about how much he didn't like it, just so long as he was spending that time with Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't need to know that though. Naruto knew, despite how much he would deny and hide it, that it always made him happy when Naruto came and watched it with him. Talking about how this should have happened and how this character was so much better than that character, even though he really didn't care about any of it. He just loved to see how Sasuke's eyes shone when he did that. That reaction was all it took for him to keep up his act.

He looked at Sasuke and saw that his lips were curved up slightly. Naruto closed his eyes in relief at seeing that the show was distracting Sasuke, having even managed to make him smile. He tilted his head to the side so it rested atop Sasuke's as he watched the show with Sasuke. A full smile slipped on his lips and he snuggled closer to Naruto, finding a strong sense of security and safety within his arms. As long as Naruto was around he didn't have to worry about what had happened. It was the only reason he could lay there and actually enjoy himself.

As a commercial came on they realized it was a marathon. Naruto was so happy about this that he could jump around with glee for at least a good five minutes. He was happy Sasuke would have the show to distract him for a good long while. Sasuke got bored of watching it though after three episodes had passed. He didn't mention that to Naruto though since he didn't really want to watch TV that much at the moment and was content to lay there snug in Naruto's arms.

He ended up falling asleep for the second time that day and he frowned when he woke to find Naruto trying to sneak out of the room quietly. "Where are you going?" Sasuke asked. Naruto stopped moving and looked back at Sasuke and frowned saying, "I didn't wake you did I?" Sasuke shook his head no and repeated his earlier question. Naruto said that he was hungry so he was getting something to eat and asked Sasuke if he wanted him to get him something too. He wanted to say, "No, I want you to come back over here and lay down so I can feel safe," but he didn't. He nodded his head in a yes manner instead. He knew it was ridiculous that he didn't feel safe without Naruto in the room with him, though he knew Naruto would say otherwise, and that he was still safe whether Naruto was in the room or not. It wasn't like if he left the room he was suddenly not going to protect him or something.

Naruto seemed to notice Sasuke's distress and walked back over to the bed and sat down on it next to Sasuke. He looked up at him curiously. Naruto told him he could stay here if it made him feel any better. He smiled at him and shook his head saying, "No it's fine, go get us something to eat." Naruto smiled got up and then leaned over and kissed Sasuke on the cheek and said he'd be as quick as possible. Sasuke nodded to him and watched him leave the room.

He sighed trying his best to ignore the sudden fear that had built up inside him. He looked over at the TV that was still on and noticed that the show he had been watching earlier was still on and tried concentrating on that to distract him. It seemed to work out, he had been immersed in the show when Naruto had came back in with some fruit, two sandwiches, and two glasses of water.

Naruto sat down beside him and Sasuke blinked and looked over, just then realizing Naruto had re-entered the room. Naruto smiled at him and put the food down between them and grabbed one of the sandwiches. Sasuke got himself into a sitting position and grabbed the other one saying thanks to Naruto in the process. He'd said it was no problem.

Once they were done Sasuke leaned over and kissed Naruto on the cheek. He blinked a few times in confusion and then asked Sasuke what that was for. He smiled and said, "For being the best boyfriend ever." Naruto blinked a few more times at that, this time out of surprise, before he smiled shaking his head a little and pulled Sasuke over into a hug saying that he was exaggerating things. Sasuke shook his head and said that he wasn't exaggerating anything. Naruto looked down at him and said sincerely, "If you say so."

Sasuke closed his eyes smiling and said, "I say so."

Naruto just shook his head again and kissed the top on his head. Just then something occurred to Sasuke, he hadn't talked to his parents about this yet. He didn't think they were going to be too happy when he called. He turned to Naruto and asked for the phone. Naruto reached over for it asking who he was calling. He told Naruto what he had just realized.

"Oh, that, don't worry about it," Naruto said, "I called and talked to Mikoto when you were asleep when we first got here and explained everything to her."

Sasuke sighed in relief and closed his eyes and said, "See, you are the best boyfriend ever."

"Yeah, yeah, you do still need to call them though," Naruto said as he remembered something, "I mean, that is unless you aren't gonna stay here the night... or nights, 'cause they would need to know that and I think it would bring your Ma some relief to hear how you're doing from you."

Sasuke nodded his head in agreement and took the phone from Naruto's hand and dialled his number into the phone and placed it to an ear. He also laid his head on Naruto's shoulder who responded by wrapping an arm around his waist. It didn't ring more than two times before he heard his mother's voice on the other side of the phone saying "hello" filled with hope and concern.

"Hey," Sasuke said and opened his mouth to say something else, but couldn't think of anything else to say so he just shut it again. Naruto rubbed his arm encouragingly and Sasuke couldn't help the small smile that slipped onto his lips.

"How are you doing?" She asked her voice filled with concern.

"I'm okay, you don't need to worry about me," Sasuke said, "I've got Naruto here to take care of me."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at that, not that Sasuke noticed it.

"Yes, he called me earlier," Mikoto said, "I'm happy to know you've got someone as caring as him looking after you."

Sasuke smiled, "Yeah, so am I."

"I'm guessing you're going to be staying with him for a while then?" Mikoto asked.

Sasuke could tell by the way that she asked that her "a while" was days and that despite how much she tried to hide it that she wanted him to come back and see him for herself. He frowned, he wasn't sure what to do. He would go back, but Naruto was the only person he felt absolutely safe with right now. It wasn't that he didn't feel safe with his family, it just wasn't the same with them and he just really wanted to be with Naruto right now.

"Hang on a sec," Sasuke said to his mother and directed his next question towards Naruto, "Erm, you wouldn't mind staying at my place instead would you?"

"Of course not, to be honest I think it would be better to stay at your place. I think it could make ya feel a bit better to be around family right now." Naruto said.

Sasuke smiled, "I just wasn't sure, you've never stayed there and I know my brother and father are always watching you like a hawk whenever you're around."

"Don't worry about that Sasuke," Naruto said, "It doesn't bother me that they are looking out for you."

Sasuke smiled again and nuzzled his chest before he turned back to his mother, "Um, I'd like to come home if Naruto can stay there too."

"Of course he can!" Mikoto said. Sasuke was relieved when she didn't say she was going to be making him a bed in the spare room. He wasn't sure if they'd be happy about Naruto sleeping with him, but he'd feel a lot better if he did.

"Alright, we'll be there soon. Bye Mother." Sasuke said.

"Bye honey, I'll see you soon." Mikoto said. Sasuke then turned the phone off and passed it back over to Naruto who put it down. He then got up and said he'd just pack some clothes and stuff and then they'd go. Sasuke nodded and just sat there and watched Naruto put everything in his bag, getting up and following Naruto around the house, wincing at the pain he felt between his legs.

When he had everything they went outside and Naruto got his car out of the garage and put his motorcycle away in the process. Sasuke got into the passenger seat and Naruto drove them to Sasuke's house. Mikoto was waiting for them when they got there and she came running outside and wrapped her arms around Sasuke and started to cry. Sasuke hugged his mother, feeling bad about how much she must have been worrying. Naruto stood there patiently waiting with his things for them to be ready to go inside. After a few minutes she released Sasuke and led them inside. Naruto had an arm wrapped around Sasuke's waist, while he had his head resting on Naruto's shoulder.

Itachi, Sasuke's older brother and Fugaku, their father, had been waiting inside for them. They both were giving Naruto a displeased look as they walked in the door and they saw how close they were. Sasuke immediately felt bad and would have pulled away if Naruto hadn't strengthened his hold on him, having obviously been aware of how this had bothered him. He had to force himself not to smile, knowing full well that if he did they would be even more displeased, not that that made any sense to Sasuke.

Sasuke said a quick hello to them and started to lead Naruto to his room. They both followed them though and as he and Naruto started to walk into his room there was an "a-hem" noise behind them. They both looked back at Itachi and Fugaku. Itachi had said two words to Naruto, "Spare room." Naruto sighed, he would have a hard time convincing them to allow this one. He turned and nodded to Sasuke, releasing his hold on him. Sasuke wasn't sure if he should be concerned about that or not, but he trusted that Naruto was going to try talking them into staying in his room with him.

"Um, I know you don't like me very much, honestly I wouldn't be surprised if you said you didn't like me at all, but," Naruto paused not sure what he should say, "If it's alright, I was hoping you would allow me to stay with Sasuke."

"You're asking such a question after what just happened to him." Fugaku said.

Naruto immediately knew that he was taking it the wrong way. Naruto took a deep breath and prepared to explain himself to them.

"Uh, how do I put this, um, it's just that I don't think Sasuke would want to be alone right now and I understand that he isn't, but what I'm trying to get at here is that I think it would make him feel better to know that there was someone that close to make sure he's safe." Naruto said hoping that what he had just said made sense.

"And where would you plan to sleep?" Itachi asked.

"Wherever Sasuke wants me to," Naruto replied.

"And what if Sasuke doesn't want you in there?" Fugaku asked.

"Then I would sleep in the guest room." Naruto said.

"Can you promise that you have no ulterior motives to this?" Fugaku asked.

"Of course," Naruto said, "I, Uzumaki Naruto, promise that I have no ulterior motives in sleeping in the same room as Sasuke, that I am only asking of this because I care about Sasuke and if proven otherwise you can do as you please with me."

Fugaku nodded and said, "Then I will allow you to stay with Sasuke, but be warned if I find out you have lied, you will pay dearly."

"Okay, thank you so much," Naruto said gratefully, "I won't take this for granted, I promise!"

Naruto then proceeded to walk into Sasuke's room and glancing back to make sure he wouldn't get in shit for closing the door, he did so when he knew that they were just going to stand there. Then he went over to Sasuke and tossed his things onto the floor next to Sasuke's bed and sat down on it.

"Hey so guess what?" Naruto asked.

"You get to sleep here?" Sasuke asked sarcastically.

"Heheh, yup," Naruto said, "So, since I told them I'd sleep where you wanted me too I'm gonna hold to that. Where do ya want me to sleep?"

Sasuke smiled and reached out and grabbed onto Naruto's arm and pulled him down next to him, then smirked saying, "Right..."—pushes Naruto onto the floor—"...there."

"Ow, that hurt you know." Naruto said as he just laid there. Sasuke crawled over to the corner and looked down at Naruto. He reached a hand down and poked Naruto on the cheek saying, "Why are you just laying there?"

"This is where you want me to sleep, this is where I sleep." Naruto said turning onto his side and getting comfortable, but still had his head tilted so he could look at Sasuke. He wasn't very happy with his response either.

"Don't be stupid, you knew I was joking." Sasuke said.

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders as a reply. Sasuke tugged at Naruto's sleeve and said, "C'mon Naru, don't be an ass, just come up here and sleep with me."

He sounded like he was really concerned that Naruto was actually going to sleep on the floor and he was going to be all alone on his bed with no one to snuggle into. That was apparently a very unpleasant thought for Sasuke. Naruto looked at Sasuke again and saw the concern on his face. He immediately felt guilty. He turned over, sat up, and stretched saying, "M'kay, if that's what cha want."

Glancing over he saw that Sasuke had relaxed and had a look of relief on his face. He smiled and got up climbing in next to him. Sasuke instantly snuggled as close to Naruto as he could get. Naruto wrapped his arms around him, holding him tight. Sasuke had his arms between his and Naruto's chests as he nuzzled Naruto's neck and closed his eyes to go to sleep.

"I love you, Sasuke." Naruto whispered to him as they both prepared to go to sleep. Sasuke smiled and whispered, "I love you too, Naruto," back to him before he closed his eyes and within minutes fell asleep. Naruto smiled and kissed the top of his head before he too closed his eyes and fell to sleep.

It was the next morning and Sasuke said he was going to school. Naruto stared at him in disbelief.

"I did just hear you right, didn't I? You did just say you were going to school?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, I am going to school. Why is that so surprising?" Sasuke asked.

"It's just that I didn't expect you to go back so soon." Naruto said trying hard to make light of this. He didn't want Sasuke to go back yet, he didn't like the idea of him being in the same school as the people who had done that to him. Sasuke found it very important to go there and keep his records up high and Naruto didn't have a problem with that. It was just that with what happened and all he didn't think that it was that big of a deal if he took time away from school.

"You don't want me to go do you?" Sasuke asked over at Naruto as he tugged his school shirt on.

"Nope," Naruto answered honestly, "No one else will probably either."

"...I'm actually surprised you aren't yelling at me yet." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, yeah, surprise, surprise." Naruto said dismissively. Sasuke just smiled as he walked over and sat on Naruto's lap. Naruto smiled back at him and wrapped his arms around him. Sasuke laid his head on Naruto's shoulder and asked if he was still going to drive him to school. Naruto sighed and said that as much as he would like to say no, that he would never do that to Sasuke. He smiled and kissed him on the cheek and said, "See? I'm telling you Naruto, you're the best boyfriend ever."

"Okay, I hear ya, you can stop with the whole "I'm the best boyfriend ever" stuff now." Naruto said.

"Obviously, I can't since I haven't gotten you to believe me yet." Sasuke said.

Naruto shook his head and said, "C'mon, you need to eat before we go."

"I need to eat? Last I checked you do too." Sasuke said.

"Whatever, we need to eat," Naruto said, "Happy now?"

"That depends, how much do you love me?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto smiled, "More than anything ever created and then some."

"Hm, okay, I'm happy then." Sasuke said getting up and heading for the door. Naruto chuckled as he followed close behind Sasuke and into the kitchen. Itachi and Fugaku were sitting at the table drinking their coffee. Naruto looked over to Sasuke and asked what he wanted.

"Naruto, you don't have to make anything, really." Sasuke said.

"Yeah I know, but I'm gonna do it anyway, so what do you want?" Naruto asked again.

Sasuke shrugged, "You know what I like."

"Okay then, I'll just make eggs and toast," Naruto said, "How's that sound?"

"Sounds a lot better than cereal." Sasuke said.

Naruto laughed and looked through the cupboards until he found what he needed and then started cooking everything. He turned to Itachi and Fugaku and asked if they wanted any too. Sasuke honestly thought that how little they trusted Naruto was ridiculous. It was so obvious that Naruto put a lot of effort into proving himself to them, which says a lot since he says there's no point in proving yourself to people. He always said if you need to prove yourself to them then they're probably not worth the time. Sasuke knew the only reason he did so now was because they were Sasuke's family, so he wanted them to all be on good footing.

When Sasuke thought about it, he'd never seen Naruto put so much effort into proving himself before. The only times he ever bothered to prove himself to people was when they annoyed him or ticked him off, so he would go and prove that he could so this and that just so he could see them eat their words. He was going to ask Naruto why it was so different now, but he could already hear Naruto's answer in his head. He would have said, "There's nothing that's not worth the effort when it comes to you." He smiled, of course that's what Naruto would say. He was proving he was good enough to be with him. That he treated him right and loved and cared for him.

He was brought back to the present when Naruto placed his breakfast in front of him and asked, "What were you thinking about that's got ya so happy?" Sasuke just looked from the food in front of him to Naruto and smiled saying it was nothing. Naruto tilted his head in confusion, Sasuke's expression and the way he was acting said otherwise, but he shrugged it off. If it made Sasuke happy, it made him happy, that's all that mattered in the long run anyway.

Naruto sat down next to him with his food and as Sasuke looked over to Itachi and Fugaku he saw that Naruto had made them some too. He thought that maybe they were actually starting to take a liking to Naruto after all. He smiled to himself, Naruto's determination always seemed to pull through when it was over and he would always win victorious. This case would be no different.

Sasuke started to eat his food and glanced at the time and his eyes widened. He'd been daydreaming too much. He needed to eat fast or he was going to be late for school. Naruto noticed he was eating as fast as possible without the risk of choking and then glanced at the time and realized why. Naruto continued to calmly eat his breakfast, he would just eat his toast last, that way he could just eat it in his car. There, problem solved.

When Sasuke was done he got up abruptly and grabbed Naruto's arm and started pulling him to the door. Naruto snatched his toast before he was pulled away by Sasuke. Itachi and Fugaku shared a glance before they got up and followed asking what was going on. Sasuke scrambled to get his shoes on and then pulled Naruto out the door saying bye without answering the question first. Naruto had been too concentrated with keeping up with Sasuke to bother answering it himself.

Then they were in the car and Naruto was driving out of the driveway with a piece of toast in his mouth as he carefully munched on it, making sure it didn't drop from his mouth while he ate it. Sasuke was trying to rush Naruto getting to the school faster, saying he was going to be late. Naruto sighed when he finished his first piece of toast and said he was not going to be late before he picked up his second piece from his lap and started to eat it. Sasuke disagreed and continued to tell Naruto to speed up.

Naruto actually found it kind of amusing that Sasuke wanted him to speed up since that would breaking the law. Sasuke was always so adamant about obeying the law that it was rather funny that now he was on the verge of begging him to break it and go past the speed limit. Funny since once upon a time he would have, but Sasuke had steered him to the right path.

How funny it was that now he needed the Naruto who had been on that oh so bad path. Sasuke really wasn't appreciating how much Naruto was enjoying this trip. He was laughing at times too which pissed Sasuke off and he demanded to know what was so funny. Naruto obliged and told him what he found was so funny. Sasuke had glared and said, "Shut up!" Though he was secretly happy that he had such a positive effect on him, he sort of also hated he did at the moment.

When they got there, Sasuke still had a good twenty minutes before his first class was going to start. Sasuke was surprised that he parked the car instead of just dropped him off at the front like usual. After Naruto had hung around for a good ten minutes Sasuke asked why in the world he was still here.

"I'm staying here, why else?" Naruto answered.

"What?" Sasuke asked in surprise.

"I'm... staying here." Naruto said.

"Why?" Sasuke asked.

"'Cause I want to make sure you're okay." Naruto said.

"No, Naruto, I don't need you to stay here." Sasuke said.

"Okay, I'm still staying here." Naruto said.

"What if... if you aren't allowed," Sasuke tried.

"Tsunade already knows I'm staying here," Naruto said, "That's what I went and did when I said I was going to be right back."

"...You're kidding right? You aren't staying here, following me around, all day are you?" Sasuke asked.

"Is there a problem with me being here?" Naruto asked frowning. He was easily hiding the pain Sasuke's words were bringing him.

"Yes!" Sasuke said immediately.

"And what would that problem be?" Naruto asked.

"You don't seem to get it. I don't want you to stick around all day long!" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke, they haven't caught the guys yet," Naruto said, "And I don't like the idea of you and them being in the same place. You want to go to school, I get that and I'm not mad or anything, I just don't like the thought of that they could be just around the corner. I worry Sasuke."

Sasuke instantly started to feel guilty. Of course this was going to make Naruto worry and here he was being a jerk about it. He didn't fight with him about going to school despite how much it must be bothering him. He'd obviously be consumed with worry for him. He knew he must have hurt Naruto too, telling him to leave like that.

"Naruto... I...I'm sorry." Sasuke said as he walked over and wrapped his arms around Naruto waist in a hug, nuzzling his head into the crook of Naruto's neck. Naruto wrapped his arms around him and said that it was alright. Sasuke then blinked as he realized he had something in his pocket.

"Naruto... what do you have in your pocket?" Sasuke asked.

"What are you—oh..._oh_," Naruto said as he realized what Sasuke talking about. Well, looks like that "perfect moment" he was looking for is now. He reached his hand into his pocket.

"Well, uh, I wasn't going to do this until later because of what happened and stuff, but, um, now that you ask I guess later had turned into now. I'm not too sure how happy you're going to be about this being done in public though since you're a private person, but oh well." Naruto said.

Naruto had by all means caught Sasuke's full attention. He wasn't sure why, but his heart was pounding rapidly in his chest. Maybe it was because of the whole private person thing? He wasn't so sure. Then Kiba came zooming up them and plopped down into a sitting position as if he was about to watch his favourite show. Naruto and Sasuke both turned to look at him incredulously.

"Don't stop now! Keep the ball rolling, come on now, keep it going! You're doing great!" Kiba grinned.

Sasuke had a strange feeling that his words were being directed at just Naruto. Sasuke didn't see it but Naruto had mouthed to Kiba just then to keep Sasuke distracted. What Sasuke did see though was how Kiba's grin widened and he was looking directly at Naruto. Sasuke was starting to feel very, very nervous. Before he could turn his head to look at Naruto though Kiba said, "Well, Sasuke, I hope your okay with public affection, 'cause I don't think it gets better than this."

Sasuke was so confused, he was about to ask what the hell that was supposed to mean when he heard Naruto talking this time. "So, Uchiha Sasuke,"—Sasuke turned just then and his eyes widened and he gasped as he saw Naruto on one knee with a ring in his hand—"Will you marry me?"

Sasuke was in complete and utter shock as Naruto knelt there waiting for an answer. He quickly became nervous because he wasn't getting an answer from him. A crowd had gathered and they were all staring. Naruto couldn't bring himself to care. Kiba almost looked as nervous as Naruto was. Sasuke wasn't even aware that there were people there in the first place. His mind was still having trouble processing the fact that Naruto had just proposed to him.

Despite how nervous he was he had been doing well with keeping his hands from shaking up until this point and he was getting to the point where he was thinking he should take this as rejection and just close the case with the ring in it that he put so much money into, a good $1000 plus, and just get up and accept that Sasuke either just didn't want to marry him or that he wasn't ready.

Sasuke managed to get out of his shock when he heard Naruto's defeated sigh. Naruto had been kneeling there for over five minutes now. If there was any hope left of Sasuke actually saying yes he sure couldn't see it and lowered his still trembling hands. Everyone who had been watching looked sadly at him. Teachers were standing there watching, hell Tsunade, the principle, was standing there watching. They could not say they weren't surprised that Naruto had proposed. It was rare for someone to know they were that in love so soon in life, but then when they thought about it, Naruto had always seemed to know what he wanted in life.

They all felt so bad for him. Tsunade, who was in the back of the crowd could still tell from how far away she was that Naruto had paid a hefty sum on that ring of his. Unknown to all but Naruto, engrave into the underside of the ring was "I'll love you always". Naruto had been so sure of this that he didn't bother with keeping anything so he could return it. Nope, he would have to either sell it, through it away, or keep it.

Naruto was about to close the white box that held the ring within it and stand up when Sasuke finally answered, "Yes." It was choked out and full of emotion. Naruto's head snapped up in surprise and Sasuke honestly looked like he was about to cry. Slowly a grin spread across Naruto's face as he stood and took the ring from it box, tossing the box away afterwards, and extended his hand for Sasuke to put it in so he could put the ring on his finger. Sasuke obliged and Naruto forced his hand to be steady and he placed the ring on Sasuke's second last finger and then looked up into Sasuke's eyes and leaned forward and placed a loving kiss on his lips.

Sasuke smiled and wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck and buried his face into his chest as tears of pure happiness fell down his cheeks and onto Naruto's shirt. Naruto wrapped his arms around him. People were congratulating them and giving Naruto pats on the back for having enough courage and belief to stay kneeling there in front of him in front of so many people for over five minutes. Kiba grinned, giving him a light punch to the shoulder saying that he'd even been scared. Then everyone started to leave, so that they could be alone. Tsunade only said that if she found out that Sasuke actually attended any classes today that she was personally going to give him a good whack to the head before she went back to her office.

"When did you plan to do this?" Sasuke choked out, his voice still raw with emotion.

"A few days ago," Naruto said, "I figured you would know what you wanted by then."

"And how long have you known you wanted to marry me?" Sasuke said suddenly aware of the fact that Naruto had been prepared for this for quite a while now.

"Um, okay I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you since the day I met you not that I really understood why at the time, but I realized I wanted to marry you the day I fell in love with you... which would have been when I asked you out for the first time," Naruto said, "So, I've wanted to marry you since then."

Sasuke stared at him in utter disbelief, "You've... you've known all these things for _that_ long?"

"Yup," Naruto said, "And here you think I'm impatient."

"You've wanted to marry me since, since _fifth_ grade?" Sasuke asked still having trouble believing all this.

"Yup," Naruto said.

"And you've wanted to spend the rest of your life with me since we were _seven_?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"That would be correct." Naruto said.

"Che, I love you, Naruto, I love you so damn much," Sasuke said, "And you can't begin to comprehend how happy you've just made me."

Naruto grinned, "Good, 'cause then it means a hell of a lot!"

"That's an understatement, with this proposal along with knowing how long you've loved me and have been waiting to ask me this one question, it just makes me too happy for words to possibly describe." Sasuke said.

Naruto continued grinning, "All the better."

Sasuke nuzzled Naruto's chest and then released Naruto only to grab his hand and lead away down the stairs of the school and out the door. He went back to Naruto's car and said he wanted to go to Naruto's house, where they could be alone together. Naruto just kept on grinning and started the car and said, "Sure thing, wherever you want to go is where we go."

Sasuke held onto his hand for at least half the ride there, the other half was spent with Sasuke admiring his ring after Naruto had mentioned that he had forgotten to tell him that it had an engraving on the inside. Sasuke had looked at it and smiled and then spent the rest of the ride smiling happily at his ring.

As they were walking up to Naruto's front door hand in hand a sudden thought, or more like question, came to Sasuke.

"Hey Naruto," Sasuke said getting his attention, "How long did it feel like you had to wait to be able to tell me you love me and ask me to marry you?"

"An eternity, Sasuke, a fucking frickin' tormenting eternity," Naruto said.

Sasuke smiled, "Thank you, Naruto, thank you for being so patient with me and waiting through all that pain."

Naruto grinned down at him and said, "It wasn't hard to deal with. I always just looked ahead. I knew all my life I was going to be with you and that you were the person I would spend the rest of my life with. I knew one day we'd be together. That's why I told in the fifth grade when you turned me down and completely shut me out that one day you were gonna change your mind and I'd still be there waiting when you did."

Sasuke smiled, just smiled because he didn't know what he could possibly say.


End file.
